Ph.D. Projects at the NRW Research College GROW

 

Focus Area "Social Relationships":

Katrin Alert: Biographies of childless, single older adults

Ms. Alert’s doctoral project focuses on childless, single older adults and the resources and risks for aging they have developed over the course of their lives. The approach is biographical, aiming to reconstruct the current perspective on one’s own aging and its development throughout the life course. The findings could be useful in elder care for counseling, recreational, or support services, enabling providers to identify and build upon these individuals’ resources in addition to addressing the well-known issues of loneliness and the need for support.

Merih Ates: Intergenerational Relationships in Old Age – What Impact Does Caring for (Grand)children Have on Grandparents’ Health?

In his work, Merih Ates focuses on grandparents who care for their grandchildren. Grandchildren are considered a potential resource for their grandparents’ well-being. Caring for them can, on the one hand, have a stimulating and meaningful effect; on the other hand, it can be marked by ambivalence and cause or contribute to stress. This dissertation project investigates whether caring for grandchildren has an impact on grandparents’ health and, if so, under what conditions negative health consequences can be avoided and positive effects achieved. To this end, longitudinal studies are being conducted. In addition to biological grandparent-grandchild relationships, social intergenerational relationships will be examined in a second phase. This involves grandparent mentors who agree to provide care services for children who are not their own. Civil society initiatives—grandparent services—help facilitate connections between families with children and grandparent mentors. Using a qualitative design, the study will also examine whether and how this form of civil society engagement is perceived as beneficial to health.

Regina Hilz: Opportunities and Risks of Relationship Breakups for Health Behavior

In her dissertation, Dr. Hilz examines the relationship between relationships and health behaviors among individuals aged 40 and older. The focus is on three research questions, which are analyzed using quantitative methods. The first research question aims to determine how and why lifestyles differ across various marital statuses and relationship types. Assumptions regarding the resources available and social support within partnerships serve as the basis for explanation. She then examines how health behaviors change in the short and long term following a separation or divorce. Finally, she explores how health behaviors change in individuals who have experienced the death of a partner.   

 

Thematic Focus "Neighborhood and Civic Engagement":

Andreas Bergholz: Age-Friendliness and Intergenerational Reciprocity in the Neighborhood

In his doctoral project, Mr. Bergholz focuses on an age-friendly culture and intergenerational reciprocity in the urban social space. First, he examines civic organizations. The aim is to gain insights into how intergenerational interaction in civic organizations takes shape in terms of generativity, solidarity, support, and reciprocity. Second, intergenerational coexistence in the social sphere will be examined in terms of mutual perceptions between young and old, neighborhood identification, and inter- and intragenerational exchange relationships. The project also includes a neighborhood portrait of the Kronprinzenviertel district in Krefeld.

Natalia Schulz: The Lived World of Older Ethnic German Immigrants

This research project aims to examine the lifestyles of older migrants from the former Soviet Union. Through participant observation and qualitative interviews, everyday practices for maintaining and promoting well-being are documented and reconstructed. The focus is on the resources and subjective perspectives of older migrants. In this context, non-family-related activities undertaken by older ethnic German repatriates to maintain and promote well-being in everyday life are observed, and the ways in which these activities are socially organized and structured to foster well-being are analyzed.
The goal is to analyze relevant processes and structures involved in the generation of well-being and, in this way, to offer new insights and suggestions for innovative practice.

 

Research Focus "Care Landscapes":

Saskia Bordne: Resources and Barriers to Functionality and Subjective Well-being in Geriatric Patients

In her dissertation, Ms. Bordne examines which factors in geriatric patients—characterized by advanced age and multimorbidity—might be associated with a primary goal of geriatric treatment: the maintenance and restoration of quality of life. In this study, the functionality and subjective well-being of patients are highlighted as key aspects of quality of life. In addition to medical parameters such as the number of illnesses, the study considers primarily psychosocial variables—such as coping mechanisms, personality traits, and social comparison processes—as potential influencing factors. Data collection, including a planned follow-up survey, is taking place at an inpatient geriatric rehabilitation facility in Cologne.

Bernadette Groebe: Assessing Attitudes Toward Dying, Death, and the Finitude of Life in End-of-Life Care

In her doctoral project, Ms. Groebe examines the assessment of attitudes toward the dying process, death, and the finitude of life. Attitudes are understood here as a multidimensional construct. They encompass thoughts, feelings, and a person’s behavior in response to being confronted with the end of life. In a positive sense, attitudes may, for example, involve acceptance of dying and death; in a negative sense, they may involve fear of these phenomena. The goal is to lay the groundwork for the development or refinement of a method. This method should capture attitudes toward dying, death, and finitude in all their complexity and be adapted to the requirements of the end-of-life care context. To this end, existing survey methods will be analyzed with regard to their underlying constructs and methodological quality, and the practical requirements for the use of such methods in end-of-life care will be discussed in group interviews with caregivers.

Ralf Tebest: The Translation of Statutory Counseling Mandates for People in Need of Care and Assistance by Local Counselors

The care and counseling infrastructure for people in need of care and assistance in Germany has significant shortcomings in terms of transparency, networking, and coordination of services. In his doctoral research, Mr. Tebest examines the implementation of statutory counseling mandates for people in need of care and assistance by local counselors in the city of Krefeld. The goal is to use a qualitative research approach to identify how different local advisors understand and implement the objectives and associated tasks of their advisory work.

Jaroslava Zimmermann: Organizational Determinants of Care Quality in Inpatient Long-Term Care Facilities

In her doctoral project, Ms. Zimmermann is examining the factors influencing the quality of care in nursing facilities. The goal of this project is to determine how organizational structures impact the quality of outcomes. The doctoral project is being conducted in collaboration with the Diocesan Caritas Association for the Archdiocese of Cologne e. V. (DiCV Cologne). It is based on selected results from the project “Quality of Outcomes in Inpatient Elderly Care (EQisA),” which was a collaborative project between DiCV Cologne and the Institute for Nursing Science at Bielefeld University. The available data will be statistically analyzed to explain the variance in resident-related quality indicators (such as pressure ulcer incidence, falls with serious consequences, unintentional weight loss, and the use of restraint belts) through structural and procedural characteristics of the facilities.

 

Focus Topic "Technology and Aging":

Katja von Storch and Anna Schlomann: Use of digital media by older adults – requirements and effectiveness in various contexts

Ms. Schlomann and Ms. von Storch are examining various aspects of ambulatory assessments (computer-assisted data collection in everyday contexts) and mobile health technologies (wearable electronic devices) among older adults. In doing so, they take a holistic approach to the needs of the target group as well as the success of these technical systems in use.
A key focus of Ms. Schlomann’s work is on the acceptance of these technologies among older adults and other relevant stakeholders, such as family members and care staff. The study examines to what extent the systems and measurement methods fit into the lives of older adults and where adjustments are needed. In addition, aspects of user experience and evaluation designs are examined: What must comprehensible and meaningful feedback for users look like? How can a statistical evaluation of the data be conducted? The goal is to develop a catalog of criteria that defines the requirements of the older adult target group for ambulatory assessments.

In her dissertation, Ms. von Storch focuses on the success of use and the subjective experience of mobile health technologies among chronically ill older adults. For this target group, coping with their illness in everyday life is often a major challenge. With the help of mobile health technologies, health- and illness-related data can be recorded, analyzed, and used to provide feedback. The hypothesis here is that mobile health technologies can support people with health problems and lead to improved management of their illness. The goal is to create a decision-making tool for the application of mobile health technologies in the field of secondary prevention, based on the influencing factors.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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